# Sales Rep LinkedIn Profile Optimization Checklist

> The full profile audit: headline, banner, About section, Experience, and Featured, that turns a static resume page into an asset that gets connection requests accepted and cold outreach actually opened.

Free checklist for sales reps. Topic: [Cold Email, LinkedIn & Social Selling](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/topic/cold-email-linkedin-social-selling/). Published by PeerLab in the [Sales Enablement Resource Library](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/). Source: https://www.peerlab.ai/library/sales-rep-linkedin-profile-optimization-checklist/

## How to use it

Run the checklist section by section in one sitting, save your rewritten copy in a doc so it survives future edits, and re-audit quarterly alongside your Featured refresh.

## What's inside

- Value-and-audience headline formula
- Profile photo and custom banner specs
- About section hook-proof-CTA structure
- Outcome-not-duties rewrite for Experience entries
- Featured section pinned-item selection and refresh cadence
- Recommendation sourcing (buyers, not just peers)
- Posting cadence baseline
- Public-view final check

Work top to bottom, each section compounds on the one above it.

## Headline
- [ ] **Replace the job-title default** ("Account Executive at [Company]") with a value-and-audience headline. Formula: `I help [specific audience] [achieve specific outcome] | [Company]`. Example: "I help mid-market RevOps leaders cut new-rep ramp time in half | [Company]"
- [ ] **Front-load audience and outcome in the first 40 characters**, that's what shows in search results and connection-request previews before truncation.

## Profile Photo & Banner
- [ ] **Profile photo:** simple background, shoulders-up, professional but not stiff, face fills 60%+ of frame. Test: still legible as a 40px thumbnail.
- [ ] **Custom banner image (1584x396px).** Never the default LinkedIn blue. Use it for your value prop in one line, a client logo strip, or a credibility marker. Never a generic stock photo.

## About Section
- [ ] **First 2 lines written as a hook**, not a bio: this is the only part visible before "see more," so lead with audience/problem, not "I have 8 years of experience in..."
- [ ] **Structure:** Hook (2 lines) → Who I help and what changes for them (1 short paragraph) → Proof (1-2 concrete results, numbers if you have them) → CTA (message me / book a call / download something).
- [ ] **Written in first person, plain language**, not "Jane is a results-driven sales professional." Third-person reads like a press release and buyers skip it.
- [ ] **ICP search keywords included naturally** (your persona's job titles, industry terms, pain points), About section content is indexed in LinkedIn search.

## Experience Section
- [ ] **Each role rewritten with outcomes, not duties.** Replace "Responsible for managing enterprise accounts" with "Grew enterprise book from $2M to $4.5M ARR in 18 months." Numbers beat adjectives.
- [ ] **Media attached to current role**: at least one deck, case study, video, or article that demonstrates expertise, not just a text description.

## Featured Section
- [ ] **3-5 pinned items a prospect could actually use:** a customer case study, a short video of you, an original piece of content, a testimonial screenshot. Never leave Featured empty, it's prime real estate directly under About.
- [ ] **Refresh Featured quarterly.** Stale content (a webinar from 2 years ago) signals an inactive profile.

## Activity & Recommendations
- [ ] **Minimum 2 recent recommendations from buyers or managers**, not just peers, a recommendation from someone who looks like your ICP is worth more than five from colleagues.
- [ ] **Posting cadence of at least 1x/week** with genuine commentary, not just re-shares. An empty activity feed is the first thing a prospect checks before accepting a connection request.

## Final check
- [ ] **View your own profile in public/logged-out view** to confirm what a cold prospect actually sees before connecting, some sections default to connections-only and won't show at all.